The Distant Past

[Bob Bull]

I still have my original schoolboy scrapbook started in 1950, full of pictures and items from the period, sadly it is like the child, scruffy and disorganised.
I often flick through it and re-live those good old days, and yesterday I thought to browse the pictures and results for mention of Morgans. Not a lot to be honest, but I note that C S Porter finished 8th. in a handicap race at the Curragh in 1950 driving a 2088cc Morgan. D. Howard finished 2nd in the up to 1500cc Class at YSCC Sprint at Croft in 1951, beaten by a Jowet Javelin. P W Hughes won a 1st Class award in MCC speed Trials at Silverstone, the Morgan 4/4 team finished second in the 750 Club Relay Race, behind the VSCC Bentleys, with apparently three cars, a1098cc model driven by J M Sparrowe/W Allerton, and a 1267cc driven by T A Parks and a 1122cc, J S Atkins. At Snetterton J M Sparrowe took a 3rd place in the 1100cc class and also a 2nd in a handicap at the AMOC Silverstone. There is a picture of the new body style Plus Four on the Morgan stand at the Earls Court Motor Show, an advert showing a 4-4 with hood erect from the Autocar, and a short item with picture of the 1172cc 4 cylinder F-Super (with the performance of a motorcyle).

There are also several mentions of a certain B E Ecclestone drivng a Cooper 500cc and not doing too badly.

Hope his might jog a few memories

[jack bellinger]

Just reading Design for Competition 1966 third edition..
" Befrore you set out for your session of practice and the race empty your Bowels and Bladder... This is Important..Withn a full Bladder a comparativley minor shunt will split it ..A nasty state of affairs ,,In addition empty you pockets .Matches and lighters can catch light,, keys and COINS(remember that Kieth) can become imbedded in you.. Finnally leave your false teeth ( whos going to own up to that one)and chewing gum on the pit counter.. both these object can get stuck in your windpipe with FATAL results..
Tuck your trousers into your socks, it helps stop the pedals getting lost??
Fire proofing clothes .A Dry cleaners will do it for you..!!
Please wear light colour clothing .. This is important as it helps to tell whether you are covered in OIL or BLOOD

oh yes ..A medical cert from your Doctor --usually about 2- Guineas
Sound Advice

love jack

[Mary Lindsay]

Those were the days!
Not a clipboard in sight, a nod towards health and safety and a lot of fun!

[Kelvin Laidlaw]

I am able to offer Medical Certificates for 2 Guineas each. If you need a Veterinary Certificate please ask Chas or Phil G. I fear these will be rather more expensive.

Kelvin

[Chris Acklam]

Just reading Design for Competition 1966 third edition..
" Befrore you set out for your session of practice and the race empty your Bowels and Bladder... This is Important..Withn a full Bladder a comparativley minor shunt will split it ..A nasty state of affairs ,,In addition empty you pockets .Matches and lighters can catch light,, keys and COINS(remember that Kieth) can become imbedded in you.. Finnally leave your false teeth ( whos going to own up to that one)and chewing gum on the pit counter.. both these object can get stuck in your windpipe with FATAL results..
Tuck your trousers into your socks, it helps stop the pedals getting lost??
Fire proofing clothes .A Dry cleaners will do it for you..!!
Please wear light colour clothing .. This is important as it helps to tell whether you are covered in OIL or BLOOD

All good stuff, and it's now clear where Jack gets his racecraft from.

But the pits must have been an odd sort of place - all the piles of matches, coins, false teeth and chewing gum sitting there on the pit counter waiting for the intrepid pilotes to come back in. You can just see the post-race gathering. Leaping out of the cars, then untucking their trousers and shaking out the lost pedals; dash over to the pit counter to pop the teeth back in for a quick chew of the now cold, hard gum and a puff of the trusty old pipe. Ah, the good old days...

[jack bellinger]

Your right Chris..Its much Tidier now a days all that stuff Hiding in the Camper vans.oops I meant Motor homes

love jack

[Bob Bull]

It was not only the drivers who had less restrictions in the Good Old Days, at Silverstone Clubbies us yoofs used to sit on the safety bank with hardly a marshall in sight. On one occasion a certain Norman Jones upturned his Ford Anglia right in front of four of us at Copse, and as the marshalls were on the inside we leapt to the rescue. We were peering in the windows looking for the driver when he appeared behind us wondering what we were doing, as he had crawled out of the rear window, which had fallen out. I spotted the battery, that had been sited in the boot, still connected by the earth lead and with petrol pouring out of the filler cap. Sharp thinking, I instantly saw the risk of a conflagration, so ripped it free and carried it to safety. The marshalls arrived and us lads wennt back to the bank, however, a couple of hours later I scratched my thigh which had started to itch, and found my jeans disintegrating about me from the acid that must have leaked out. With fifty miles to cycle home to North London we had to go via Brackley to call in at the local Gents Outfitters. "Do you have any jeans?" I enquired. "Oh! Yes Sir, we have our Teddy Boys in Brackley." He replied!!!!!

On another occasion after a VSCC Meeting three of us decided to cycle round the track when the racing had finished, we got as far as Becketts where we found Lord Ebury sitting by his stranded ERA, having spun and stalled the engine, all of the marshalls had gone so we were called upon to give his Lordship a push start before continuing our lap of the track. How long he would have been stuck there if we had not arrived I can't imagine.

I remember one time at Brands Hatch seing Colin Chapman wearing a nylon shirt of a type popular in the '50's, which were rather 'see through' and noting a very ragged vest underneath. Took the shine off his reputation I can tell you.

When I see today's drivers clad in aspestos underwear, massive gloves, huge helmets and neck braces etc., and note all of the safety equipment, yet driving exactly the same cars as the fifties drivers who raced in shirt sleeves with tie, flannel trousers and plimsolls, with not a safety car in sight. I wonder what has the world come to.

Ow'd Bob